The Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication has launched the .հայ domain, which will work along the English language .am domain name. Նախագահ.հայ will be the first official website to be registered in the Armenian script.
The current .am domain was assigned to the Republic of Armenia in 1994, the Internet Society NGO got the right to register it in the same year. The same NGO retains the right to manage the .հայ domain.
The registration process started back in 2012, Vice-President of the Internet Society NGO Grigory Saghyan told reporters today. He noted that “writing in the Armenian script is compulsory for the system to recognize the website you are trying to access.”
For accessing websites registered on the .հայ domain from abroad it will be necessary to install an Armenian keyboard, and the Windows provides that opportunity.
The Ministry of Transport and Communication has offered all state bodies to register their websites on the .հայ domain. The cost is the same as with the .am – 9-10 thousand AMD for registration and 1,000 AMD monthly service fee.
150 applications have already been submitted for registration, of which 70 are government agencies.